practice of genital mutilation

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International Leadership Institute unites Minneapolis with sister city in Kenya

By Lisa Bryant

Contributing Writer

After serving as a trial judge for 21 years in the Hennepin County Fourth Judicial District Court, the Honorable LaJune Thomas Lange has found another way to influence and serve the Twin Cities as well as the global community. In 1994, she founded the International Leadership Institute, an organization based in Minneapolis that works to build and bridge relationships between local and international leaders to strengthen cross-cultural relations, provide civic education programs and enhance the lives of international peoples and communities. “I’m so very proud of the work Judge Lange is doing,” says Judge Pamela Alexander, a former district court judge with the Hennepin County courts, now

president of Minnesota Council on Crime and Justice in Minneapolis. Alexander explains that African Americans often forget how connected we are to our African nations. For that reason, she says Lange’s work is remarkable: “It opens [our perspective on our] world and reveals just how connected we truly are.”

Lange has devoted a great deal of her career as a judge, professor and lecturer to issues concerning human rights, international law and governance, and women’s rights and gender equality worldwide. Continue Reading →